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Hong Kong Open 2006 Draw

As I mentioned earlier, I will only be back for the later stages of the HK Open. So, let me post some of my thoughts on the draw.

Starting with MD
Unfortunately, all the three Pelatnas pairs are drawn in the top-half of the draw. The bottom half will have the Djarum pair Rian Sukmawan/Eng Hian as well as the ex Olympic-champion Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya. This will be a hotly contested event as most of the top pairs are there (except for the 2 Madrid-bound pairs: Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae and Mohd Fairuzuzian Mohd Tazari/Lin Woon Fui).

QUARTER 1:
Jens Eriksen/Martin Lundgaard Hansen (1)
Gan Teik Chai/Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif (5/8)
-- 2 Pelatnas pairs are in this quarter: Flandy Limpele/Sigit Budiarto and Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan. Both have tricky ties in the first round. Flandy/Sigit face the seeded Malaysian pair Gan/Abdul Latif, while Kido/Hendra is likely to face Howard Bach/Bob Khan Malaythong (who have to first qualify for the main draw). Both ties are winnable and if the Indonesian pairs win their matches, they will face each other in the next round For the sake of ranking points, I think Christian Hadinata is likely to allow the young pair (Kido/Hendra) to win and advance to the quarter-final where a tough match against Eriksen/Hansen awaits.

QUARTER 2:
Chan Chong Ming/Koo Kean Keat (3/4)
Luluk Hadiyanto/Alvent Yulianto (5/8)
-- Luluk/Alvent should win their first match against a French pair. They will meet the winner between Guo Zhendong/Xu Chen vs Chew Choon Eng/Hong Chieng Hun. It should be a manageable tie also. It's likely that Chan/Koo will meet Luluk/Alvent in the quarter-final. Past encounters favour Luluk/Alvent.

QUARTER 3:
Anthony Clark/Robert Blair (5/8)
Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah (3/4)
-- Similarly, the quarter-final match should go according to seedings, but Hoon Thien How/Tan Boon Heong are also in this quarter, with a possible second round match against Clark/Blair. Clark/Blair also has a tricky tie against the home pair of Albertus Susanto Njoto/Yohan Wiratama Hadikusomo in the first round.

QUARTER 4:
Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya (5/8)
Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun (2)
-- Tony/Candra are again seeded in the HK Open. They shouldn't have a problem in progresing to the quarter-final, with a tricky test against possibly Lee Jae Jin/Hwang Ji Man in the second round. Rian Sukmawan/Eng Hian are facing a rematch of the NZ Open Final against the brothers Hendri Kurniawan Saputra/Hendra Wijaya. The winner of the match will likely face the second-seeded Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun, who face a tricky test against the Malaysian pair Tan Bin Shen/Ong Soon Hock. I am hoping to see a Tony/Candra vs Fu/Cai match in the quarter-final!

Overall, the field is open to any pair. I will be satisfied if the 2 WC bound Indonesian Pelatnas pairs face each other in the semi-final.

Now moving on XD.
All the top pairs except Lee Jae Jin/Lee Hyo Jung (and the vastly improving Lee Yong Dae/Hwang Yu Mi) will be in HK!

QUARTER 1
Zhang Jun/Gao Ling (1)
Jens Eriksen/Mette Schjoldager (5/8)
-- no problems for both seeded pairs and they should face each other in the quarter-final. Zhang/Gao to qualify for the semi-final!

QUARTER 2
Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms (3/4)
Zheng Bo/Zhao Tingting (5/8)
-- the young Pelatnas pair of Mohd Rizal/Greysia Polii is unlucky to draw the formidable English pair in the first round and they are expected to lose! Likewise, Flandy Limpele/Lita Nurlita are likely to qualify to the main draw and will have a tough tie against He Hanbin/Yu Yang. The winner of the match will face Robertson/Emms. I think the quarter-final match is again going to feature the seeded pairs. Robertson/Emms to qualify from this quarter.

QUARTER 3
Anthony Clark/Donna Kellogg (5/8)
Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen (3/4)
-- this is Xie/Zhang's first tournament after Xie Zhongbo's injury in the Singapore Open. They should progress to the quarter-final without any problem. Meanwhile, Anggun Nugroho/Vita Marissa will have a tough but winnable first-round tie against the seeded pair of Clark/Kellogg. The other first-round match will feature the Asuncion siblings vs Hendry Kurniawan Saputra/Li Yujia. I hope Anggun/Vita can reach the quarter-final. Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen to qualify from the quarter!

QUARTER 4
Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam (5/8)
Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir (2)
-- another interesting first round tie in this quarter is between Sudket/Saralee and Tony Gunawan/Minarti Timur. Sudket/Saralee should win and face the winner of Robert Blair/Natalie Munt vs Koo Kien Keat/Wong Pei Tty. Meanwhile, Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir should not face any problems in reaching the quarter-final and face a likely match against Sudket/Saralee for the second time in the space of 1 week! Nova/Butet to qualify.

The semi-finals should feature Zhang Jun/Gao Ling vs Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms and Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen vs Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir. Not easy for either of the 4 pairs to win the HK Open title!

The WD event should be a formality...with 4 top Chinese pairs in the main draw. Other pairs will be lucky enough to enter the semi-final.

QUARTER 1
Gao Ling/Huang Sui (1)
Du Jing/Yu Yang (5/8)
-- no question about it, both pairs will meet each other in the quarter-final, with Gao/Huang having the edge.

QUARTER 2
Chien Yu-Chin/Cheng Wen-Hsing (3/4)
Zhang Yawen/Wei Yili (5/8)
-- Lita Nurlita/Nathalia Poluakan are unlucky to draw Chien/Cheng in the first round and they are not expected to win. Chien/Cheng should face Zhang/Wei in the quarter-final, with the Chinese pair likely to win.

QUARTER 3
Saralee Thoungthongkam/Sathinee Jankrajangwong (5/8)
Gail Emms/Donna Kellogg (3/4)
-- this is the only quarter not to feature a Chinese pair and Jo Novita/Greysia Polii happens to be in this quarter! They have a tricky test against the Jap pair Kumiko Ogura/Reiko Shiota who has not been competing for quite a while. Jo/Greysia should have the edge. They are likely to face the English pair Emms/Kellogg in the second round. They won the previous encounter, which incidentally happened in last year's HK Open and I watched that match! If they win again this year, they should face Saralee/Sathinee in the quarter-final. Previous encounters also favor Jo/Greysia. I am hoping that the Indonesian pair can repeat last year's feat in entering the semi-final! This will boost their chance of a top 8 seeding in the WC.

The WS event is also up for grabs for any in-form player, esp after we have witnessed the loss of Chinese players (like Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang) to European opponents.

QUARTER 1
Zhang Ning (1)
Yao Jie (5/8)
-- Zhang Ning should breeze through the earlier rounds. Yao Jie has a tricky test against Kanako Yonekura in the first round. The Indonesian player Fransisca Ratnasari is also in this quarter and she has a winnable first round match against Anna Rice. If she wins, she will likely face Yao Jie. Not much expectation for Nana...one victory here be valuable as it will mean an addition of 2160 to her ranking points. Zhang Ning should face Yao Jie in another thriller quarter-final. The Chinese player to win!

QUARTER 2
Xu Huaiwen (3/4)
Pi Hongyan (5/8)
-- Xu will have a tricky second round tie against Jiang Yanjiao while Pi will be tested by Eriko Hirose in the first round. Both players should qualify for the quarter-final. Pi to qualify from this quarter.

QUARTER 3
Kaori Mori (5/8)
Wang Chen (3/4)
-- Adrianti Firdasari is in this quarter with a winnable first round match against Tine Rasmussen. If she win, she will face Kaori Mori. Meanwhile, Wang Chen has a tricky tie against Hwang Hye Youn in the first round.The home player should prevail and ultimately qualify from this quarter.

QUARTER 4
Tracey Hallam (5/8)
Xie Xingfang (2)
-- Xie will be looking for a revenge against Hallam. Both players should face each other in the quarter-final and I don't think Xie will lose this time round.

QUARTER 1
Lin Dan (1)
Eric Pang (9/16)
Mohd Hafiz Hashim (5/8)
Taufik Hidayat (9/16)
-- the top seeded Chinese player should progress through the early rounds and face possibly the winner between Mohd Hafiz Hashim vs Taufik Hidayat. However, Taufik first has to beat Shon Seung Mo and possibly Lee Tsuen Seng. Hafiz himself has to negotiate past the Polish player Przemyslaw Wacha and possibly Shoji Sato. I don't see Taufik qualifying from this quarter. He may not even get past Hafiz. Lin Dan to qualify from this quarter!

QUARTER 2
Chen Hong (3/4)
Ng Wei (9/16)
Kenneth Jonassen (5/8)
Park Sung Hwan (9/16)
-- it's unlucky for the still not-fit Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Kuan Beng Hong (who's still low in confidence) to be drawn in the first round. If Kuan can not beat the unfit Sony, I think he really should withdraw from Madrid to avoid future embarassment. The winner of that match will face Ng Wei in the second round. Ng Wei should prevail to face Chen Hong in the third round. This quarter also feature a number of other interesting matches in the first round: Kendrick Lee Yen Hui vs Sairul Amar Ayob and Park Sung Hwan vs James Chua. The winners will face possibly Chetan Anand and Kenneth Jonassen in the second round. I think the quarter-final match will be between Chen Hong and Kenneth Jonassen. Chen Hong has a slight edge.

QUARTER 3
Chen Yu (9/16)
Boonsak Ponsana (5/8)
Dicky Palyama (9/16)
Chen Jin (3/4)
-- the seeded players should face each other in the third round, although Chen Jin will have to get past possibly Ronald Susilo in the second round. Chen Yu vs Boonsak Ponsana should be another classic while Chen Jin should beat Dicky Palyama and eventually qualify from this quarter.

QUARTER 4
Joachim Persson (9/16)
Lee Hyun Il (5/8)
Andrew Smith (9/16)
Lee Chong Wei (2)
-- the second-seeded Malaysian player has a kind draw and shouldn't face any problems in qualifying for the quarter-final. Meanwhile, Simon Santoso is drawn to meet Lee Hyun Il in the second round. I hope Simon can show progress by beating Lee and qualify for the quarter-final. Nevertheless, Lee Chong Wei is undoubtly the strong favorite to emerge from this quarter and face a likely semi-final against either Chen Jin, Chen Yu or Boonsak Ponsana.

So, we could see a Lin Dan vs Chen Hong and Chen Jin vs Lee Chong Wei semi-final, all pointing to yet another Lin Dan vs Lee Chong Wei final, same as last year's HK Open.

Really thanks a lot to badMania for all the prediction and view.....I am quite agree with what you are say and this year HO is definitely the most interesting event in this year since all the good and talented players taking parts...Wow...i am eager for the HO coming...

The WD event should be a formality...with 4 top Chinese pairs in the main draw. Other pairs will be lucky enough to enter the semi-final.

QUARTER 3
Saralee Thoungthongkam/Sathinee Jankrajangwong (5/8)
Gail Emms/Donna Kellogg (3/4)
-- this is the only quarter not to feature a Chinese pair and Jo Novita/Greysia Polii happens to be in this quarter! They have a tricky test against the Jap pair Kumiko Ogura/Reiko Shiota who has not been competing for quite a while. Jo/Greysia should have the edge. They are likely to face the English pair Emms/Kellogg in the second round. They won the previous encounter, which incidentally happened in last year's HK Open and I watched that match! If they win again this year, they should face Saralee/Sathinee in the quarter-final. Previous encounters also favor Jo/Greysia. I am hoping that the Indonesian pair can repeat last year's feat in entering the semi-final! This will boost their chance of a top 8 seeding in the WC.

badMania, thanks again for providing your early preview of this tourney, before your long trip..Hmm, i think what you wrote above(which i've highlighted in bold), is conflicting with what you wrote afterwards. I think there will be a non-CHN pair to get into the SF (If i noticed above with the Quarter 3 combatants, which you mentioned didn't have a Chinese pair, i think there will be a non-CHN pair to get in the Semifinal rd). But your other previews of the other fields make sense.

I think there will be a non-CHN pair to get into the SF (If i noticed above with the Quarter 3 combatants, which you mentioned didn't have a Chinese pair, i think there will be a non-CHN pair to get in the Semifinal rd). But your other previews of the other fields make sense.

Yup, there will definitely be a non-Chinese pair in the semi-final...and this pair is indeed the lucky pair...hehehe...

Even if Kuan Beng Hong lose to the unfit Sony , i still dont think he should withdraw from Madrid, no doubt, everyone knows that he has lost his confidence after TC, I think he can get over it with a big win in the future maybe it could happen in Madrid. He just needs time since changing coaches.